Plasmon-Enhanced Self-Powered MoS₂ Photodetector via In-Situ Silver Nanoparticle Integration for Real-Time Optical Communication

Silver nanoparticle-decorated molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) microflowers are presented as a novel platform for high-performance, self-powered broadband photodetectors. In this work, MoS₂ microflowers embedded with optimally sized Ag nanoparticles are synthesized via a, eliminating post-deposition processes and enabling uniform nanoparticle distribution with strong plasmon–semiconductor interaction. The resulting device exhibits a broad photoresponse from 400 nm to 1100 nm, covering the visible to near-infrared spectrum. Under low illumination (2 µW cm⁻²), it achieves a responsivity of ~1.9 × 10⁴ A/W and a specific detectivity of ~4.61 × 10¹¹ Jones at bias voltage of 5.0 V, significantly outperforming most reported Ag–MoS₂ systems. This enhanced performance is attributed to efficient plasmon–exciton coupling and hot electron injection facilitated by the Ag nanoparticles. Importantly, the device generates a measurable photocurrent at zero bias, confirming truly self-powered operation. As a proof of concept, the photodetector is integrated into a real-time optical communication setup, successfully receiving and decoding alphanumeric and binary signals. These results highlight the technological promise of in-situ plasmonic 2D semiconductor hybrids for next-generation, broadband, low-power optoelectronic applications.